4 New Ship

AN: Okay so. Someone posted a picture of a young Shiki in the previous chapter that paints a perfect picture of what he actually looks like. So here it is!

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-New World, Location Unknown-

"Puru, puru, puru, puru… Puru, puru, puru, puru…" went the Den Den Mushi, waiting to be picked up.

Eventually, it was answered up by a burly looking man, whose face was covered in a steel mask, "What is it?"

"Bastion. Its moved, the Captains Vivre card," the gravelly voice on the other end told Bastion.

"Ohh? Are you sure?" the man known as Bastion asked in a tired voice.

"Yes," was the simple reply he got in return.

"Hmm… what are we going to do? Should we go find him, John?" Bastion asked, questioning his former crewmate on his wishes regarding Shiki.

"Yeah. The gang's getting back together, you're the last one I've called," the man named John told him.

"What a pain… alright. When are you going to pick me up?" Bastion asked, moving his tired body upright with a groan.

"Within a week. Be ready," John explained, cutting off the Den Den Mushi without preamble.

"So, the Captains gotten out… Heh…" Bastion said as he cracked his neck, relieving some pressure.

"Hmm?" a soft voice asked, confused at the interruption.

"Time to get up babe, we have work to do, the Captains escaped Impel Down," Bastion said with a smile on his face.

"Oh, that's nice to hear," the soft voice said in reply, but still refusing to get off the bed.

-Foosha Village, Dawn Island, East Blue-

"Puru, puru, puru, puru… Puru, puru, puru, puru…" rang Garp's personal Den Den Mushi.

With a sigh, he picked it up and grunted in affirmation.

"This is Sengoku," the voice on the other end said, though Garp already knew it to be him. For who else would be calling him during his time away from the marines.

"Sorry to interrupt you during your vacation Garp, but it's about the Golden Lion," Sengoku explained calmly.

"Yeah, I heard… We'd better be careful," Garp said in response as he handed the store owner some Beli for the tobacco he'd purchased.

Turning away from the shop owner, he continued, "He's not the kind of man who'd want to make peace… Still, I doubt he'll attack us right away. He's a pretty careful guy, after all."

"Hmm. True, but still," Sengoku said in response, not wanting his friend to be caught out by the Golden Lion while away from the Marines.

"Yeah, yeah. See you later," Garp replied, cutting the Den Den Mushi off.

Garp sighed, maybe seeing his cute little grandson, Ace, would cheer him up.

---

I walked down the streets of Water 7 with a fresh cut. We'd decided to keep the hair long, but still cut away quite a bit.

It was shorter than what was normal, but it still flowed beyond my shoulders, keeping that 'Golden Lion' look I was famous for.

Currently, we were looking for a shipwright by the name of, Peter Pett. The leader of a famous family of Shipwrights based here on Water 7.

They were no Tom and his 'Tom's Workers' but were famed in their own right for their skill.

I'd decided on the way over that I would just buy a ship right out for now. I had years to put together the blueprints for an amazing ship made from Adam Wood.

No need to rush. Besides, I wanted to leave Water 7 as soon as possible. Too close to the Marines for my liking.

Irene was currently putting in my order for new tailormade clothes, for I was currently wearing casual and very basic trousers and linen tunic to fit in and not give away my identity as the Golden Lion.

On my head was a straw hat and most definitely not the same as Rogers!

Instead, it was a more conical shaped hat, with some tassels coming down from the side. It helped to hide the long hair that was currently tied up in a bun along with hiding my features from any pesky Marines or CP agents that were no doubt on the lookout for me.

Was it strictly necessary, since I had already walked around Water 7 without a disguise? Probably not, but it certainly didn't hurt.

And so, with Irene elsewhere, it was Konan who was accompanying me to the Pett shipwrights who were stationed on Dock 2.

Iceburg had yet to combine the various shipwrights of Water 7 into the single entity, Galley-La Company, so I was forced to use one of these smaller companies.

They had various ships for sale, ranging from Sloops, Caravels, Galleys, Frigates and more.

These ships, of course, were used. But I wasn't fussed on the matter. I had a lot of Beli, and these people were skilled craftsmen.

I found them easily enough, and we soon got down to business.

"So, you want the Frigate?" Peter Pett's son, Pita asked me while smoking a cigarette with a tried look on his face.

We'd been looking at their brochure and pictures for about half an hour now, and I'd decided on the extra room for training and whatever else I thought up as I was shown the ship.

"Mmm. I want some upgrades though," I explained to him.

"Sure, sure. A big ship that Frigate, easy to alter, but its gonna cost you extra on top of the 100,000,000 Beli," he explained nodding and writing up some papers for our purchase.

"Naturally," was my response. Of course, upgrades would cost more.

"Well. Come with me, you can inspect the ship and then point out any changes you want to be made," The shipwright informed me, snapping his fingers at a worker.

"Finish drawing up these papers, I got customers to show around the Frigate we got on lot 7," He explained to the boy curtly, motioning for us to follow him.

---

The frigate was quite large, having been used for only a couple years as a trading vessel until it was sold due to the increase in pirates on the Grand Line, thanks, Roger.

After putting in the order for adjustments, ranging from more canons, larger personal rooms and such, I paid a deposit by summoning a chest of Beli from the sky. It left the men of Dock 2 gaping at my liberal use of Devil Fruit.

Heh. I really enjoyed surprising people with my control over Gravity, and I hadn't even started raising Islands out of the ocean and shaping earth as I saw fit.

We even picked up some general supplies on the way back, as well as a general 'Doctor' kit for Irene to use in emergencies.

It was actually on our stroll back to the Hotel that Irene found us.

"Hey Captain," she shouted as she casually strolled towards us, slit in her Kimono allowing her greater freedom of movement as she did so.

She seemed happy and vibrant. Her voice returning to her, and those sunken cheeks from yesterday a little less prominent.

"Yo," was my response as Konan and I continued at our pace towards her.

"They'll have your clothes ready by tomorrow. Paid extra for it like you asked me to, they seemed to do some good work," Irene explained as she was now walking in tandem with us.

I nodded in acceptance, not doubting her word while also motioning to Konan to hand over the leather bag she was holding with both hands in front of her.

"We thought it prudent to purchase some tools, if you are to take up the role of Doctor," Konan explained, handing her best friend the bag.

"Oh. Thanks…" she muttered as she opened it immediately, taking mental notes of what was in there and what else she was going to do need.

"Gonna need a lot more medicine and anaesthetics…" she said to herself after snapping it shut.

"The ship will come stocked to the brim with medical supplies, don't worry too much," I explained to her as we took a left turn down an alley.

Immediately I stopped, seeing a bunch of men, beating a kid bloody. He looked to be in his early teens.

They were surrounding him at the end of the alley, laughing as a couple of them took shots at him with bats and their fists.

"Don't bother coming back to the ship, you fuckin' klutz. Seriously, how hard is it to not drop every last thing that touches your hands," the ringleader said, spitting on the battered boy.

The group started laughing, others adding another comment or two, degrading the already beaten boy.

I may be a pirate now, but I believed in the unofficial 'code' of the 'good' pirates of One Piece. That anything's fair in the game of pirates, what you do to others that fly the Jolly Roger is free game… to an extent, for we sought this life out. But don't get innocent civilians involved with your conflicts, they didn't seek out a life of crime and fighting.

Now, this kid was also obviously a pirate or at least a cabin boy of some sort, but he was young, so I decided to lend a hand… Also, I just really liked testing out my newfound strength to be entirely honest.

"Jehahahahaha!" I laughed loudly, announcing myself as I rushed into the group beating on the boy, blood pumping in anticipation of the beating I was going to give them.

Part of my decision to be so rough with them was due to their 'colour' or 'aura'. Using my Observation Haki I could determine to an extent someone's character, and theirs pissed me off.

"Wha-?" one of them said, turning to the sound of my laughing.

He was the one I attacked first, punching him squarely in the face, breaking his skin, dislodging a few teeth and also likely fracturing his jaw.

I had to give these pirates some credit, they didn't just stand around in awe and shock, letting me beat them up one by one.

Two of them were faster than the others, however, drawing their blades immediately and slashing at me with fury in their eyes.

"Die motherfucker!" they shouted in tandem. Seems these two were twins or something, that had the exact same facial features.

Moving out of the way of the first strike, I moved to the side of the second attacker and used his body to protect myself from the first's second strike.

It wasn't a pretty sight as he cut into his crewmate and likely sibling, carving into bone as he slashed along his chest.

"Aghhhh!… b-bro…" Blood squirted out, covering him in his friend's life source, "Noooo! Bud! I'm sorry!"

'Bud' was completely out of it, with that attack from his friend leaving him in shock and unable to react due to the immense pain he was in.

But I didn't care. Using him as a weapon, I started to swing him around, all the while he kept losing more and more blood as I used him to batter into his very own crew with relish.

I'm fairly certain I felt and heard several bones breaking as I had my fun. I think Konan even muttered, 'oh my…' under her breath as I broke them all.

But I wasn't completely heartless, once I felt him weakening to critical levels, I dropped him on top of his bruised, bloody and beaten crew.

"Get back to your ship," was my order as I lorded over these weaklings with a grin on my face, "He'll probably survive if you run."

They looked at me in terror, the unfairness of the situation making them furious. But they were pirates, what did they expect?

There were absolutely no rules of engagement when it came to pirate versus pirate.

Eventually, they left, gritting what little teeth that had in fury, leaving the beaten boy on the stone floor. He would likely die from his injuries, but they didn't seem to care all that much.

After they left, I walked forward, stopping as I looked down at the boy, inspecting him quickly.

I was correct in my previous assumption that he was only a teenager, his bruised and bleeding face hiding most of his youthful features, but I felt confident in my assessment.

I'd beaten them up because I wanted to help, so I did just that one more time, "Irene. Show me your skills. Save the kid."

She paused for a moment after hearing my order, but nodded and knelt down next to him, looking him over, listening to his breathing and inspecting his broken bones.

She pulled out a small flashlight and checked his pupil response, seeing if he was 'alive' but brain dead from the beating he was given or maybe a concussion of some sort... I don't know, my knowledge of medicine was basic at best.

She let out a sigh in relief after seeing his pupils react normally to the light stimulation. Following that she got to work, cleaning his cuts and staunching the bleeding.

Konan and I just watched over the two of them silently, not saying a word.

"Who… who are you?" The young boy asked in a tired voice as he managed to open a single eyelid, the other puffed over and filled with blood.

Before Irene could respond, I spoke, "We're pirates, she's my new doctor and I'm seeing if she can put her money where her mouth is."

"P-Pirates…?" the kid asked, coughing slightly as he did so, face scrunching up in pain as he irritated some injuries.

I merely hummed in response.

The kid replied, "I-I'm a pirate too… I'm going to sail the whole world and be the freest man there is…" finishing with an awkward chuckle.

"Kind of hard to be a pirate when you just got kicked out of your crew," Irene said with a roll of her eyes as she tore away his bloody shirt, causing the kid to hiss in pain.

"Ah…" was all he said with a gloomy look, now remembering how he had just gotten excommunicated from his crew.

"Yo, Kid. Why did you get kicked out?" I asked, curious.

"I've always been clumsy… I broke a priceless treasure the Captain ordered me to take to his chambers…" he explained forlornly.

If the kid was so clumsy, the Captain was either an idiot or intentionally gave him a 'treasure' to break so he had a reason to remove him.

"Probably just needs glasses," Irene said in an annoyed tone, pulling on his bandages tightly and tying them off.

After finally getting to his legs, she added, "Also has bowlegs. Should have grown out of them by now… Might need braces, but other than that he should be fine," she finished, standing up and wiping her hands clean of blood with a rag.

I tossed the wannabe pirate some Beli and said, "Alright kid. I want to get some grub in me so… best of luck on your journey or some shit."

He just looked at as stunned, holding the stack of notes in his hands.

As we walked away, I heard he speak out, "P-please! Take me with you!"

"Nah. You're too weak," I explained, "At your age, I was part of the strongest crew in the world. Don't need no bow-legged, weakling in mine."

Neither Irene nor Konan showed a reaction to my blunt rejection of the teen's request to join my crew.

Good. You don't question your leader in public. If you had an issue, you say it behind closed doors to show a united front to the world. Appearances were important, it was also a sign of respect.

Now, I won't lie, the desperation in his eyes tugged at my heartstrings a little, but sailing… or 'flying' the seas, especially on my crew was no place for someone so weak and useless.

It was a kindness to leave the kid to live as a civilian, he wasn't cut out for pirating as of right now. The money I'd given him should more than cover medical costs here in Water 7 if he were serious about becoming a pirate or even getting a life as a civilian started.

He kept shouting at us, trying to convince me about taking him with him, eventually, he ended his pleas with a question, "At least tell me your name?!"

I paused for a moment and came up with a little idea for via my observation, I noticed something about him, I wasn't sure what it was, but there was also a 'substance' to him.

My flawed plan may pay off or may not, only time would tell. But my gut was telling me there to give him a chance, no matter how small.

Smirking, I laughed and said, "You're too weak to even know that. Figure it out and impress me before we set sail and I'll entertain your plea to join," goading him, testing him into looking into us further and maybe doing something a little crazy to get my notice. Who knows?

After leaving him behind, Irene said to me, "You were kinda brutal with those Pirates there, boss."

"Eh. They were pirates and I didn't like their aura," I replied without looking back at her.

"Aura? What aura?" she questioned in confusion, asking me and her best-friend, Konan.

"I'll teach you all about it in time girls…" I said mysteriously, which Irene only let out a loud sigh at in frustration.

You know, I was glad these two were nobles and not completely cowed by my presence as a normal civilian would have been.

Sure, it showed their naivety to an extent, but it was fine. I would educate them soon enough.

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AN: Going away for a few days for work. I'll try to write a little, but I'll likely be too busy... so no new chapters for like 2-3 days for sure. Maybe a little longer, but I don't know.

Next chapter will let us reach that 15k word mark and allow power stones + rankings.